PARIS - JUNE 26: The corporate logo of Hermes is seen at the Hermes store on June 26, 2005 in Paris, France.
The first out of five Sotheby's auctions for the art and furniture collection of Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, the late heir to the founder of the world-renowned luxury brand Hermès, started strong last Wednesday, Dec. 13, with a collective sale that racked over $25 million, or €22.9 million, almost three-fold the initial valuation of €6.1 million to €8.9 million.
The inaugural auction, "Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Vente du Soir," ended up being a widely successful "white glove" sale, an honor reserved for fairs that successfully sold each one of its lots.
One of the highlights within the sold-out catalog of the event was the sale of a regilded Louis XVI chair believed to have been made to furnish a personal room belonging to Marie-Antoinette, the famed 18th-century Queen of France. The item fetched a record-breaking price for a singular piece of "Old Kingdom" furniture, selling for a staggering €2.5 million, or just around $2.8 million.
Another one of the high-ticket items sold was a heavily sought-after artwork by the French painter Pierre Soulages called "Peinture" dated 1970, fetching a ridiculous price short of €3 million, or more than $3.2 million.
A set of two bronze statues depicting twin monkeys dubbed "Singe SI and Singe SII," made by French sculptor François-Xavier Lalanne, was also graced by the fall of the hammer with a final price of €2.71 million, or just shy of $3 million.
According to Sotheby's website, the pair of luxury figurines once decorated Guerrand-Hermès' toilet from the 1800s located within his Parisian estate named the "Hôtel de Lannion," which the late heir purchased in 1997. Guerrand-Hermès also employed the expertise of the interior designer François-Joseph Graf for the restoration of the mansion.
